'Bill to regulate real estate will not clip wings of players'

New Delhi: The proposed bill to regulate the real estate sector seeks to establish a transparent system of delivery and would not hamper the growth of the sector, a top government official said on Saturday.

Addressing a conference of CREDAI, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Secretary Arun Kumar Misra assured the developers that the proposed Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill is "comprehensive" and "will not clip your wings".

CREDAI, the realtors' apex industry body with more than 9,000 members across the country, has been opposing the proposed law saying that the Bill in the current form is not practical and only favours property buyers.

Misra, however, said: "The Bill is trying to establish transparent and open system of delivery," Misra said.

Earlier this week, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Ajay Maken had said the bill would soon be brought before the Cabinet for approval and the government plans to introduce the Bill in the Budget Session of Parliament.

The government plans to set up a tough regulator for the real estate sector with provisions for even jail term for the developer for putting out misleading advertisements about projects.

The proposed regulator will also make it mandatory for developers to launch projects only after acquiring all the statutory clearances from relevant authorities, Maken had said at the National Editors' Conference here.

Misra today said the Ministry would try to implement the taskforce reports on affordable housing and rental housing in the next two years.

The Ministry has taken up the issue of liberalisation in foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in the real estate with DIPP (Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy), he said.

Meanwhile, CREDAI today elected Lalit Kumat Jain as the new Chairman and C Shekar Reddy as President.